Metro: The Fallout
by alexanderondo
Summary: It's been weeks since Artyom destroyed the Dark Ones. He and his fellow Ranger, Ulman are sent on a mission that could determine the future of the Metro, and even the entire human race... (NOTE: i'm having a bad case of writer's bloc, and my PC is fried so I can't work on this fanfic for a while. I wrote this note from my Xbox. See you soon).-Alexander O.
1. Chapter 1

It's been over three weeks since the Dark Ones have been destroyed. Artyom woke up from another nightmare. He saw a light in the middle of a sea of darkness and wanted to see it.

As he walked through the dark tunnel, he saw on the walls the people he had killed. The Nazi officer who had killed that old man and his child. Then the Reds who tried to kill him. Each death was an image stuck in his dreams.

At the end of the tunnel just before the light there was one image that always haunted him, both in reality and in his dreams. It was the Dark Ones. He watched from the tower as the missiles arched into the sky, and rained down like spears towards the botanical gardens.

Each mushroom cloud was a cry for help from the Dark Ones. Artyom had heard them one last time before the final missile struck them down.

There was one with him on the tower that night. Artyom had shot the being five times with a revolver. Every second before the missiles launched, it tried to reason with him.

The being was on the ground with one arm holding it's stomach, while the other was reaching towards the device that would end it's species.

"You do not understand.". The being was correct in this. Artyom never truly understood his actions that night. The countdown for the strike reached seven seconds as he thought.

"You could save lives.". Artyon thought what that could mean but the missiles had already launched. As they flew into the sky the Dark One showed him something different.

"You needed to know.". The being entered his mind with the last of it's strength and showed Artyom a city. Not a city clouded in darkness and radiation, but a city gleaming with sunlight and hope.

A city where mutants wouldn't threaten everyone, where territorial wars wouldn't kill what was left of humanity in the tunnels. A city where Artyom could truly be happy.

When he was put back into reality he realized what the Dark One showed him. It showed him a possible future, he was sure of it. And if that was a possible future without the missiles, he had destroyed it with the Dark Ones.

As he walked to the light at the end of the tunnel, he saw that same Dark One from the tower. It's tall sleek body standing there in front of light. It's grey eyes watching him.

"You could have saved them.". Artyom tried to back up, and run away but found that he couldn't. The Dark one was no longer in front of him, in it's place was his helmet and gas mask. He saw the missiles raining down on the visor's reflection.

"You killed them all.". Artyom saw the Dark Ones, and the Metro being consumed in a fire that killed everything. Except for himself.

Artyom woke up from his nightmare. He was sweating and shivering. He heard a knocking on the door. "Artyom, c'mon we have a briefing this morning. You know how Colonel Miller gets when we're late, now get up. I don't want to deal with mess duty again, please.". Ulman, always trying to keep the mood light.

Artyom got up from his bed and opened the door. Ulman was standing outside getting ready to knock again. "Ah Artyom, it's about time. I thought you were dead this time.".

He looked at Artyom who was still in his undergarments. "Did I catch you at a bad time?". Artyom just closed the door and searched his footlocker for his Ranger's uniform.

He found it where he left it the previous night. Indeed in his footlocker. It was an old Russian military jacket and pants that were dark grey with dark blue 'urban' stripes making a kind of tiger stripe pattern on the sleeves and pant legs. His boots were shiny black leather with new laces.

As finished lacing his boots, he put his combat vest over his jacket. It was also black and it had all of the pouches he would ever need. Most of them were used to carry magazines, but a few could carry first-aid kits or even military-grade bullets if he needed.

Before Artyom left his small room in D-6 he grabbed his helmet and hooked it to his vest by it's chin strap, and packed his journal. Something about it kept him sane, maybe it was knowing that one day people would know his life. Get closure for why things were.

He opened the door and Ulman was still there smiling. "You ready Artyom? Make sure you got everything you need because once we get your issue, your not going back."

Artyom patted his front pouches and heard a familiar 'clink' of his military grade bullets. He also checked to make sure his filters were still in they're places.

"Alright, let's get going.". Ulman led Artyom to the armory where all of the Rangers weapons and munitions were kept. Artyom followed noting the people who were trying to go through training. Colonel Miller was going to have a field day breaking them.

The duo finally got to the Armory after walking through the now populated D-6. Just a few weeks ago it was a hellhole. Some of it still was, but most of it was used by the Ranger Order.

The armorer was a bald man with a jagged scar over his left eye. "Artyom, Ulman. Here to get your issue I see. Your late, I should just give you these old junkers from the independent stations, but I guess it is Artyom's first real day in the Order.".

The armorer found a new looking AK-74M on the wall and tossed it to Artyom who barely caught it. "Now your going to need some ammo. You'll be doing a class-B assignment so seven magazines should be enough.", he put a cluster of magazines on the table for Artyom.

"Let's see here. Oh right, a sidearm. This one's a life saver.", he found a revolver similar to the one Artyom used on the tower and set it down for him.

"There's one more thing you need... but what was it? That's right, your commission. You'll get a quarter of it now, and get the rest after you complete your mission. The armorer handed Artyom a magazine half fed with military grade bullets.

"Alright, now that your squared away Miller will want to see you. Ulman, come get your weapon!". Ulman went to the armorer who handed him a a not as new AK-74SU.

Ulman went to Artyom and led him to Miller. On their way they passed through the mess hall and grabbed a quick bite. Ulman snatched a cooked chicken leg and Artyom had mushroom stew with a piece of bread in it.

They walked through eating as they went. "Alright Artyom here we are. The bane of my existence and your new life!", Ulman threw on his biggest grin and opened the glass door for Artyom to step into the command center.

Colonel Miller was waiting for them at a large table with train routes, tunnel maps, and little tiny flags.

"Ah Artyom, Ulman. Your late.". Miller was quick to put that out there and everybody in the room turned their heads to see the Colonel's rant at the rookie.

Colonel Miller was wearing a uniform similar to every other Ranger but with attached shoulder pads made out of a bullet proof material. He also had the Spartan insignia on his combat vest. On one of his shoulder pads was a knife sheath, and hanging proudly off of his vest was his gas mask with all of it's scarred metal.

Miller looked Artyom and Ulman over before continuing. "Artyom, your late by an hour. It's your first day on a real mission, and you just destroyed the Dark Ones. So you have an excuse. Your exhausted from your long journey throughout the metro. But you Ulman. You have been in the Order for how long? I'll tell you how long: too long to be late for briefings. Your orders are on this sheet of paper. You will follow them to the letter and report back when you are finished. Dismissed.".

Ulman saluted the Colonel and took the paper. Artyom waited for the other Ranger at the exit and together they trekked once more to the surface.


	2. Chapter 2 (BoS)

War... War never changes.

In Colorado, a new order is built from the remnants of the US. National Guard. It's goal is to preserve America and restore the world. The Wasteland calls them insane bastards. The remnants however call themselves the Brotherhood of Steel.

It's been over twenty years since the human race wiped itself out...

In Bunker Bravo, in Denver a soldier stirs in his sleep. In his dream he sees a man atop an old TV broadcast tower in a snowstorm. In the distance there's a garden. And in the sky there are missiles raining down. All the soldier could hear in his dreams are voices. Voices speaking both in whisper and also in monotone. Voices speaking of a doom not far off.

"He does not understand.", the soldier was trying to figure out the meaning of his dreams when he was shook out of sleep.

"Tyson. Tyson, wake up brother.". It was Oscar, Tyson's best friend and the best moron in all the US. Army. "Hey 'Os. What time is it?". Oscar pointed at a clock and walked out of the barracks room. Tyson looked at the clock and cursed under his breath. He was going to be late for morning formation, and his initiation.

Now that Tyson was 19, he could initiate himself into the Brotherhood of Steel. He always wanted to, mainly because he wanted to be like his older sister who was a founding member.

Tanya, his sister enlisted in the National Guard ten years before World War 3 went down. She served proudly and eventually became a Captain with her own platoon. Her platoon served several missions, mostly to save people from natural disasters. Mostly earthquakes and blizzards.

Eventually a few years before the great war, Tanya was sent on a mission to Anchorage, Alaska to investigate rumors of an invasion. The rumors were true, and her platoon became one of the spearheads in Operation: Anchorage.

After the battle for Alaska was nearly over, Tanya's platoon was sent to Denver to wait for further orders. Those orders never came, the missiles fell first.

For the first years, the USNG in Denver stayed hidden, only operating when they needed to. But eventually they needed food, vehicles, and ways to maintain them.

Tanya volunteered first for these missions. Mainly so she could check on her family. Eventually on one visit, her house was besieged by bandits.

Tanya fought her way through them to find her mother. She was bleeding from gunshot wounds, and in her arms there was an infant. Her younger brother, Tyson.

Tanya took her brother and brought him to the bunker. There he was taught how to be a soldier, and now he was about to put these teachings to the test and initiate into the Brotherhood of Steel.

Tyson rummaged through his footlocker until he found his uniform. It was a US. Army ACU pattern uniform with an IBA/OTV vest over it. On the vest were pouches for magazines, webbing to hold flashlights, and a knife sheath.

As he finished lacing his boots and was walking out of his room, he realized that he was forgetting something important. He ran back to his footlocker and grabbed his combat helmet.

Now that he was ready, he ran down the halls to the briefing room. The formation was getting started, and he barley found his place as General Smith was ordering roll call.

Tyson looked to his right to see if anyone in his squad was missing. They were all there in their old tattered ACUs. Tyson had one of the last new sets. Tyson snapped to attention and heard his squad leader, his sister call: "All present!".

The other squads followed suit and General Smith called out: "Stand at-ease!". Everyone snapped their hands behind their backs and looked the old General in the eyes.

"May the initiate Tyson Jones come see the General.", Tyson snapped to attention and walked out of the formation to meet the General.

"Son, you have been brought here since you were a mere infant. Since then we have taught you our way of life. It is with great honor that I initiate you into the Brotherhood of Steel. Your sister has served us for many years, I hope you do well to do the same.".

General Smith had a pin handed to him from one of his lieutenants. It was a winged sword with cog gears surrounding it. Under the sword were the letters: BoS. Above the sword another series of letters were inscribed: CoS.

Tyson almost flinched as General Smith punched the pin onto his vest and shook his hand. "Son, not only are you a member in this Brotherhood, you are a member of our most trusted Circle of Steel. Only those I trust the most are allowed in this inner-circle. And it is only they I trust for many missions.".

The Circle of Steel. The remnants best soldiers against the wasteland and it's terrors. Most of them were veterans who had fought with General Smith during the first few years.

After the tenth, only people his soldiers trusted were assigned to the Circle of Steel. This list consisted of: Tanya, Jimbo, Johnny, Meryl, Jackson, and Dawes. And as of today: Tyson.

There were others in the Circle as well. But the important ones were the people everybody knew. As Tyson shook General Smith's hand and saluted him, he felt better. Accomplished.

As he went back to his squad, the briefing was starting. "At ease everyone. As most of us know there has been a missile launch out of Moscow. We do not know the purpose of the launch, or even if there was a launch. But we need to figure it out.".

General Smith grabbed a file off of his vest and opened it. "I want the Circle of Steel to take three Verti-Birds to Russia and investigate the city. Satellite readings show larger amounts of radiation there so bring full-seal suits and gas masks. You'll be leaving in eight hours. Go to the armory and suit up. I'll see you before flight. Dismissed.".

Everyone left the room except for members of the Circle of Steel. They all waited for Tanya to rally them before marching as one to the armory.

Tyson was behind his sister in the marching formation and 'Os behind him. When they got to the armory, Tanya dismissed them for an hour while they got their gear together.

Tyson was issued a freshly-cleaned M16A1 rifle with 240 bullets. He then given his knife. It was a standard USMC style trench knife with a spiked knuckle-duster. Finally he was given a sawed-off pump shotgun and two handfulls of shells.

"Son why don't you learn your rifle by the range.", the armorer ordered.

Tyson grabbed his rifle by the carrying handle and walked to the firing range in the next room. Another armorer was waiting there with a loaded magazine.

"This is how you load the gun.", the armorer slammed the 30rd magazine into the magwell and pulled back on the charging handle. "If it jams you gotta push hard on this.", he slammed his hand into a button next to the front of the butt.

Tyson took his freshly loaded M16 and fired a short burst at a target. After four rounds it jammed. "Shit.", Tyson slammed his hand against the forward-assist and heard a 'clink' of a bullet being forced into the receiver.

He fired a few more bursts at different targets. The rifle was well balanced and he could barley feel the recoil. After every four-to-six shots, the gun would jam. He would have to fix that later. He also noticed after taking out the magazine that the handguard was hot as hell.

Tyson went back to the armorer's station and asked a dumb question. "Do you guys have anything to mitigate jams on this thing?", he held up his M16. The armorer nearest to him grabbed the gun and started to disassemble it. After he got around to the receiver, he found the problem.

"You got frozen grease stuck in the receiver. I'll melt that out for 'ya.", he found a blowtorch and put it to the lowest setting against the M16 components.

"Should prevent most jams, although if the gun overheats... Well nothing can stop that. ", he handed the newly-fixed M16 back to Tyson who took it back to the range with better results.

Tyson found his sister testing out her new 'punch-guns' on practice dummies. They were some sort of metal gloves from power-armor with shotgun tubes and barrels attached. Each tube could hold about three shells each before needing a new batch.

'Boom-boom!'. She had just punched a dummy twice in the abdomen and head. The force of the 'punch-guns' forced her arms back from recoil, and the dummy was in ragged shreds.

Tyson's jaw hit the floor when he saw her left-hook another dummy to take it's head off. It went through the floor when she manually fired the guns at a distance from the target. The buckshot spread made several golden streaks in the air and ripped a final dummy to bits and pieces.

She turned around as some strands of her hair fell to her face. "Tyson, you got your issue?", she inspected him with her eyes.

"Good. Remember to grab your enviro-armor and gas mask before we leave the armory. We leave for Moscow in five hours.".

Tyson went back to the armorers and got his new armor and gas mask. "Remember boy, you got to wear your IBA/OTV over the enviro-armor. And always make sure you have a way to tell how much time's left on your air filters.".

Tyson walked out of the armory to the hanger wearing his skinny enviro-armor and IBA-OTV. He took the cushions out of his helmet to fit it over his chemical hood and waited for the flight to hell.


	3. Chapter 3 (Spartan)

Artyom felt the rush of radioactive wind as he and Ulman climbed the ruined escalators. The old metal stairs crackled under the Rangers' boots.

As they ascended to the dead city, sunlight peered through small holes in the ceiling. It was blinding to Artyom at first, but he adjusted to real light quick enough.

When they got to the gates Ulman heard something over the sound of wind and mutants. "Quiet down. Artyom do you hear that?".

Artyom stopped breathing heavily and heard a sound similar to a million fan blades turning as one. Then he heard the sound of metal scratching metal, and a crashing sound.

"There! Do you see it?!", Ulman pointed at something in the sky. Artyom pulled out a pair of binoculars and looked where Ulman pointed.

What he saw he could not comprehend. It was a machine with giant fan blades on the sides. Spinning so fast that they distorted the air around them.

Then he saw what was happening. A pack of demons surrounded the machine and started ripping and tearing at it.

The machine turned around and slammed into a demon. Then it fired some sort of red laser that lit another on fire. Before it could turn around again a demon ripped one of the fans off of the body, sending the machine swirling into a building.

The building gave way and parts of it fell to the streets below as the machine was going to the ground, still spinning.

The Rangers didn't see where the machine finally stop, but they had an idea. The building that it hit was an old hotel near a office complex.

That meant the flying machine could only end up in one of two places: either in the old parking lot beside the hotel, or an old road that long ago collapsed into the dirt below.

"Artyom, before we go after our visiters i'm going to contact Miller.", Ulman pulled out a large radio. And he was no longer smiling.

The radio buzzed and clicked as Ulman switched it on. After a few minutes a call was made.

"Miller. This is Ulman. Artyom and I just witnessed a flying machine trying to fight a pack of demons over the old hotel in downtown.".

"Roger Ulman. I want you two to investigate. Radio back as soon as you secure the site of this 'machine'. Miller out.", the radio buzzed as the signal was lost.

Artyom and Ulman ran through the dead city, stopping only to reload and change filters every few minutes.

Mutants mostly stuck to their hideouts during the day. And they scarcely attacked the Rangers.

Until they found a nest of Watchmen in the way of their direct path.

"Artyom, get ready. That's a nest up ahead. Expect a good amount of them.", Ulman pulled an AP mine off of his vest and carefully planted it outside the nest as quietly as he could.

"Artyom, on your signal.", he waved his hand at a watchman mutant walking about the street.

Artyom fumbled the safety on his AK off and fired a burst at the beast. It went down from the rapid impacts, but the others were now awake and on the prowl.

'Boom!'. Ulman's mine exploded killing several of the mutants. There were four left but combined fire from two AK's made short work of them.

"Ok Artyom, we should try to grill these sometime. Something tells me we would be good at it!", he put his go-lucky smile back on.

The Rangers ran to the hotel and saw the metal machine half-buried under metal and rubble. One of it's fans was missing off of the body, and the other was spinning, trying desperately to life it back up.

All it managed was to get itself stuck against a pole of metal from the hotel's wall.

A door on the machine folded down and an unarmed woman stepped out.

She was wearing a strange shiny black suit with a dark vest over it. On her head a hood was pulled up under a helmet and gas mask. The gas mask had red eye-pieces for a strange reason.

They could tell it was a woman despite the full-suit because of how skinny she was compared to them. Before they could say anything to her, a watchman slowly crept up on her from behind an old car.

Artyom was about to yell when a watchman tackled her from the side, but Ulman covered his mouth.

The Rangers ran to the machine and to the woman to see a dead watchman, and the woman wiping blood off of her arms.

"Stop where you are!", she yelled at Artyom and Ulman. The duo exchanged looks and aimed their AK's at her.

"We're not here to hurt you.", Ulman put the muzzle of his riffle to the ground and signaled Artyom to do the same.

"That makes one of us.", the woman replied and ran up to the Rangers.

Ulman tried to raise his gun but the woman closed too much ground too fast. "Now drop it before I do something I won't enjoy.", she raised her hands in fisticuffs.

Ulman tried to hit her with his gun and she expertly dodged to the side and ripped the weapon out of his grasp. She had her other hand balled into a fist and ready to hit Ulman in the stomach.

"Nice moves. You should teach me to dance like that.", Ulman tried to use his jokes to calm her down.

Before the woman could say anything another watchman tackled her from behind. Artyom raised his gun to shoot the mutant but the fight was over fast.

The woman punched the mutant in the face once, twice, and three times. Then she slammed her fist into the beast's stomach. Artyom heard a shotgun's 'boom!' and the mutant's back exploded outward.

"You got blood on my jacket.", she spat on the fresh corpse. Ulman scrambled for his AK and raised it up.

"It isn't going to do much good.", she held up a full magazine. Ulman fumbled with the charging handle and was surprised when a bullet didn't go tumbling out the side.

"How did you...", Ulman for the first time in his career was in a loss for words. Artyom was amazed by the woman's skill in combat. Never had he seen anybody capable of disarming a Ranger without excessive force.

"Rule one in war boys: Never lose track of your weapon. Here, take this back. None of my people will need it.", she tossed the magazine to Ulman who barely caught it.

"Montez, Oscar, Sarah, Ashley, Tyson, come on out!", five men and women came out from around rubble or under scrap metal.

"Cool tricks. Gotta teach us sometime.", Ulman was still trying to keep everything light.

The woman with the metal gloves turned around and faced Artyom and Ulman. Her jacket and vest were coated in blood from the mutants she just killed.

"So, is there a place to rest without these masks? We only have enough oxygen in our packs for a week.".

A week?! That was enough air for a large party to stay in the city for a day or two. These people were well equipped.

"Yeah, we can take you to the metro. Just keep your weapons lowered. I also have to take you to our leader: Colonel Miller.", Ulman was now very serious.

The first woman looked at everyone else in her party and muttered under her breath for a moment.

"Ok. But first you need to tell me what tunnel we'll be taking. I got more troopers out here and they'll need an RV point.", she inserted a shotgun shell into each of her gloves as she finished.

Ulman told them the tunnel entrance and gave directions from their current location.

"Thanks. Before we go, I need to leave something behind for my other men.", the woman dropped a metallic-blue cube on the ground and it started shining a bright silver-blue light into the sky.

"Ok, let's go.", Ulman had Artyom watch their backs as they started a march to the nearest tunnel.

Artyom noticed a few things about the new people. First was that they were organized. Too organized to be anything less trained than a Ranger.

Another thing he saw was that they were a strange bunch. One of them (who Artyom learned later was Montez) was talking about getting fresh beef steaks for everyone when they got back to Denver.

What the hell was a Denver? Maybe some of the older people in the metro would know.

Wait a minute... he was talking so casually about beef steaks! That was one of the rarest and most expensive commodities available only to those with the Hansa, and they weren't fresh. This man was able to apparently get them like it's nothing.

Artyom fumbled with one of his pockets and pulled out the picture of his mother. One of the newcomers slowed down so they would be side-by-side.

"She's beautiful. Is she your girlfriend?". Artyom put the picture away and pulled out a postcard of a statue on an island.

"No she was my mother.". The man beside him looked away for a moment then looked back at the postcard Artyom was holding.

"Didn't think many people would still care about Lady Liberty. It's good to know history lived through those missiles.".

Artyom wanted to ask the newcomers about the world but before he could, they had found the tunnel entrance and were prying the gate open. Colonel Miller would have to determine why they were here first, and if they could be trusted.

The group walked down the escalators and found the entrance to Polis. Ulman knocked on the metal door three times, one time, and three times again. It was this weeks password.

"We're opening the door. Stand back.". The door opened and they were ushered back to the metro.


	4. Chapter 4 (BoS)

Tyson didn't know what to expect from these two Russians. One of them was taking everything lightly as if this was the average day.

The other was quiet. Always keeping to himself. He was also good with that old AK. Tyson could tell by the way the quiet one held his gun that he was a pro.

When the massive door hissed shut behind them, Tyson noticed the two Russians taking off their gas masks.

"Tanya, we might want to follow suit.". Montez was trying to keep things calm.

"Yeah. We probably should. Masks off! We need to conserve our air reserves.". Tanya started to remove her gas mask.

Tyson removed his, then Carlos, Sarah, and Oscar. The air tasted like dust but they weren't choking.

The light-hearted Russian was talking to one of the gate guards. Probably telling them to expect the other two squads.

The quiet one was surprisingly talking now. He was chatting with Oscar about the Statue of Liberty.

"Yeah. That postcard is Lady Liberty. I doubt she's still standing there but she was beautiful before the World-War three wiped everything out.".

"Thanks for telling me what it was. I got this card from a strange man last month. I got a few more in my room.".

And they went on about different landmarks. Tyson made a note to keep an eye on him. He was too smart to be the average soldier. If the men here wearing battered vests could be called that.

As they walked through the station Tyson saw tents lining the walls farthest from the door to the surface.

It was a sad sight to see so many people living like this. Most of them were wearing ragged, destroyed clothing. There was a child wearing a trench coat five sizes too big running around.

It was just hard to believe that people could live this bad. In Denver people still lived in their homes, mostly.

Some districts were taken by bandit tribes, but the BoS was able to isolate them from the rest of the population and keep them at bay.

Here in Moscow though things were very different. Tyson could taste the dust and radiation in the air. It probably wasn't a lethal dose but it couldn't be good to breath in forever.

He followed his brothers and sisters in arms with the two Russians to a tunnel. The talkative one, Ulman turned around and told everyone their destination.

"Alright people. We're going to our base to meet with Colonel. Please keep your hands and feet in the vehicle at all times. Or don't. Why would we care you lose your limbs to stupidity. Get in a car and let's go.".

Tyson got in a 'car' with Ulman, Tanya, and Montez. The 'car' was a makeshift traincar with a machine gun mounted on the back. It was amazing it even moved.

The tunnel was in mostly good condition compared to the station. Some of the emergency lights were still on, and the tracks weren't falling apart.

Of course it was 'mostly' good. Some areas were collapsed and there were some holes in the floor where tracks used to be. And Tyson swore he saw a giant spider running to one of those holes in the wall.

They eventually got to the Russians' 'base' about an hour later. It was a mostly uneventful trip. There was that giant rat that tried to eat Montez's face, but Tanya punched it off instantly before anyone else could react.

"Alright folks! We're here. Get out and walk with us. And remember kiddies: no flash photography.", why was this Ulman guy always so upbeat?

The BoS-CoS soldiers followed Artyom and Ulman through a beautiful place.

The lights were all working, there were 'soldiers' cleaning out some high-tech looking rifles, and a diner area serving food and music to the Russians who were off-duty.

"This is where our guys eat. Yes before you ask: those are muffins made out of the highest quality mushrooms in all of the Metro! And yes the tea is made of the same stuff. And so is the vodka... and everything else we eat or drink. At least it has the taste of home!".

Tyson was getting a bit tired of Ulman's 'joker' act. It was getting annoying fast and he was about to tear the Russian a new ass.

Before he was going to rant, Ulman announced that they were at the Colonel's office.

"Alright. We're there. Which is here. Artyom, why don't you get the Colonel to meet our new friends here.". The quiet guy opened the door and stepped in. He didn't come back out for several minutes.

Tyson was counting the the number of punches he would love to throw at Ulman when the door opened again.

Artyom stepped out first and shrunk away behind the group. And then the Colonel came out. He was a tall guy wearing a heavy-duty vest with IBA/OTV arm guards over his shoulders. Hooked to his vest was a ballistic helmet and a gas mask. And on his vest there was a word pained on: Spartan.

"Artyom, Ulman. I thought I made myself clear to follow your orders exactly as I had written down on the sheet of paper.", Ulman just pulled a small note of paper out of his pocket and started to eat it.

"Ulman! Read to me out loud what your orders were.", Ulman gulped and got the paper away from his mouth.

"Uh, it says to: 'DO NOT GET INVOLVED IN SHENANIGANS.".

The Colonel just nodded his head in approval. "And from what I am seeing here, what did you get yourself and Artyom involved in?", he was teasing them, Tyson could tell that much.

"I got us involved in Shenanigans, Colonel.", Ulman put the paper back in his pocket and started to shuffle on his feet awkwardly.

"Anyway, let's get you all to my office. I want to know who the hell you are. That gear you have isn't the standard Metro home-made, and it sure is hell isn't anything my Rangers have.", he opened the door again and ushered everyone in.

If Tyson could be anymore surprised then he was. The office had a load of military computers and at least three-dozen people working on them. In the back of the massive room there was a smaller room surrounded by glass and a thick glass door.

That was the Colonel's office. He had them wait while he interrogated everyone one by one alone. He didn't hurt anyone, just asked questions.

The questioning lasted about five minutes per person. Montez just walked out and Tanya walked in. Tyson saw the Colonel smile for a second. Tanya's questioning lasted half an hour before she was able to walk out.

"Alright kid, come on in.", the Colonel motioned for Tyson to enter his office. It was a nice room. The air wasn't as stuffy as it was outside the room. The Colonel pulled out a chair for Tyson and a bigger, probably more comfortable chair for himself.

"Alright, i'm going to ask you a few questions. Your going to answer them to the best of your abilities. Alright: question one. Where were you born?".

Tyson looked around nervously for a moment before answering. "Denver, Colorado.".

"Alright. What year?", Colonel found the muffin on his desk and started to eat it.

Tyson knew he was at least 19 years old. And that it was the year 2033. He was born... in 2014. So that's what he told the Colonel. "I was born in 2014.".

"Good. Can you tell me the significance of the year of 2012?", he was already done eating the muffin and had crumbs falling out of his beard.

"Um. The year 2012 was the year the Russians nuked America?", the Colonel motioned for him to continue. "And the year America nuked Russia.".

"Yes. That was also the year my good friends General Henry Smith and Tanya Jones went back to America to try and prevent the nuclear war.

General Smith? There was no way it was the same person. And there was no way in hell Tanya was here before the nuclear war. His sister was in the National Guard, not the Active Army.

Now what I want to know is: why did Smith send you lot here? And why did he send Tanya of all people?".

Tyson was speechless at first. Then he finally came up with an answer. "General Smith sent us all here to investigate a missile launch from this city. We expected to find a restored city like Denver.".

The Colonel dropped his smile. "How would you expect to find a restored moscow? Your country launched hundreds of missiles here and wiped nearly everything out. Henry and Tanya knew the stakes if they couldn't stop the war.".

Tyson was confused to say the least. If General Smith and his sister could have prevented the nuclear war, they would have. This Colonel was talking out of his ass.

"That's bullshit!", Tyson was getting fed up with this man's lies.

"It's not. You want proof? Ask your sister. Ask her what happened the night the missiles fell. Ask about her lover. The one she left here that night. The one who we all called 'Hunter'.".

Tanya always told stories about Hunter. He was according to her: "the best soldier and man you'll ever have met." She always talked about how she was going to go back for him one day. Tyson never knew Hunter was in Russia.

"I heard stories about Hunter when I was younger. My sister always told me how good of a man he was.".

The Colonel nodded and said one more thing. "If Henry sent you all here, then I fear I may not be able to send you back home. From what Artyom told me: your rotor-copters are crashed and broken beyond repair.".

If they were stuck there, then that meant it could be years before they could return home. It also meant that whatever happens here, they might have to get involved in the Colonel's work.

"Alright Tyson, you may leave my office. But before you do I need you to know this: you all are to work with my Spartans and Rangers until you are able to return home. You'll all get the same wages as my soldiers, and I can't have you lot staying here doing nothing.".

Tyson got up out of the small chair and walked out of the room where Artyom was waiting. "Alright, your room is next to mine. Let's go.", he sounded tired.

Tyson followed the quiet Russian to his room. It was small and had a bed in it. A table and a desk lamp too. It was a little cramped but he figured out where to leave his ACU coat and IBA/OTV vest: in the footlocker near the bed. He also set his helmet on the desk and crawled into the bed in his fatigue shirt and underwear.

He fell asleep fast. Tyson dreamed of those voices again. They sounded harsh, but they were comforting. Calming even. They spoke of understanding, and hope. Of peace and how to bring it. To not kill, but to save lives.

When he woke up, he was going on his first mission with the Spartans.


	5. Chapter 5 (Spartan)

Artyom had nightmares that night. He saw the Dark Ones again, just standing there. They were crying out in pain and he saw why. There was a fire reducing them all to ashes one by one. Until there was one left.

The last one still standing after the fire looked at Artyom and tried to run away in fear.

"If it's hostile: you kill it!", it was Hunter's voice.

'Bang, bang, bang!'. The revolver rang out hard. Artyom saw the golden streaks of bullets flying toward the last Dark One.

"You could have saved them.", the Dark One told Artyom.

"I still can!", Artyom dived into the bullets and closed his eyes.

"Ah!". He woke up from his nightmare. He looked around his tiny room and saw that it was two hours before breakfast. Artyom tried to go back to sleep but found that he couldn't.

"Wonder where Khan is right now.", he grumbled as he started writing in his journal about another night without rest.

As he finished his latest entry, Artyom heard his door open. He turned around in his chair and saw a red bandanna cargo pants wearing leg sticking through.

It was Khan! How did he get here, Artyom wondered.

The older man was still wearing his ragged jacket and pants with all of those red bandannas tied to his leg and head.

"Artyom. I have great news!", he was whispering.

Artyom looked at the mysterious man and calmly closed his eyes, and opened them again.

"How did you get in here?".

Khan just looked up at the ceiling for a moment before saying anything else.

"I opened the door and walked in.".

Artyom thought of something to say to get Khan out of there but decided against it.

Khan reached into his pocket and pulled out a small book.

"This is for you Artyom.", Khan tossed the booklet to Artyom's bed.

"Also I thought you should know this: you can repent for what you did. You could still save them Artyom.".

Artyom looked at Khan for a good minute to try and figure out what he meant.

"Save who?".

Khan was fashioning a small rag doll out of black cloth and string.

"The Dark Ones. You can still save them, but you must act now.", Khan had finished making the doll and handed it to Artyom.

The Ranger was scared of how accurate it was to a Dark One. He looked it in the shiny button eyes and thought he could hear their whispers.

"Artyom, you must go to the botanical gardens. It is there where you will find the answers. It is also where you will find out if you are destined to save us all, or to kill what's left of humanity.".

Artyom thought about this for a second. He was curious about what Khan meant. He was also hopeful for the answers awaiting him, and yet scared of some of them.

He looked up from the pitch black rag doll and Khan was gone. He left no signs of even being in Artyom's room other than the doll and the booklet on his bed.

Artyom knew where he had to go and knew what he had to do. He was going to the botanical gardens to find out if they were still alive. To see if somehow he can be forgiven for his worst mistake.

Artyom got out of his bed and changed into his Ranger uniform. He loaded his AK-2012 and stuffed his pouches with magazines and military grade bullets.

As he was ready to leave his room, Artyom put his journal into his backpack. You never knew if your next trip to the surface would be the last.

On his way out he saw one of the newcomers, Tyson walking about.

He decided not to disturb the young foreigner and continued to the surface exit.

The door opened with ease and Ulman didn't ask any questions when Artyom told him he was looking for answers.

"Yeah Artyom, i'll let you out. But you got to be back by noon, otherwise Colonel Miller will have our heads.", he opened the door and made sure to close it behind Artyom.

"Thanks. I'll be sure to only be out a little while.", Artyom walked up the escalator and climbed up to the dead city.

It was around Spring now. the mutants were staying in their nests in the early sunlight.

Artyom could feel the heat through his gas mask. It felt good.

The city had a shadow this morning. Artyom couldn't see it. But he felt it. It was like the ghosts in the tunnel. Like the dead were walking throughout the ruins, living their last moments again.

Artyom found an old hospital in the way to the gardens. He could hear the dead trying to talk, see shadows where twenty years ago men and women stood.

He remembered what Khan had told him a long time ago: don't go near them, and don't touch them. Otherwise you could literally get stuck in the past.

The Ranger trekked through the ruined building while staying vigilant enough to stay away from the shadows.

"Please. I need help.", one of the shadows was whispering to Artyom. He could feel it inching towards him.

"I can't help you.".

Artyom started running towards the waiting room when he saw a flash.

"What?!", he turned around and saw dozens of doctors and nurses running about trying to help everyone in the rooms. The building was bright white and clean.

"Please doc, you have to help me.", one of the patients was holding her stomach. Artyom could just see the blood coating her hand.

One of the doctors turned to face her. "I'm sorry. There's nothing more I can do. You just need to try and rest.", Artyom saw the tears behind the old man's glasses.

The doctor signaled for a nurse and she injected the dying woman with something.

"Please. Help. Me.", she was barley able to say the words as she collapsed and died in the hallway.

The doctor started to write on his clipboard. "Tell them the bad news. And someone get the Politburo on the phone. We can't keep up with this influx of patients with rationed medicine, war be damned.".

Artyom saw another group of doctors trying to haul a patient to an Emergency Room. "Please. We're doing everything we can but you need to cooperate.", they started trying to drag her to the ER again.

The patient looked at both of them with a blank stare. "I need to go back for them. God damn it I need to back for her! I can't leave her out there to die like that.", he started sobbing.

"There's nothing you can do for her. Nobody lives through fire-bombing. It's a miracle you were able to get to our doors.", one of the doctors was loading a syringe with sedatives.

Artyom looked out the windows and saw streaks of red-orange falling from the sky. Everything the streaks touched was lit on fire. He saw a man get struck by the streak and burned alive until all that was left was a skeleton with muscles still peeling off.

As he was running to a door he saw a woman already struck by the fires. She was still alive, trying to crawl to the hospital.

"Hold still. Let me help you.", Artyom saw a soldier run to her and shoot her in the head. "I'm so sorry. It was the only thing we could do for you. At least your not in pain anymore. At least your free from this hell.".

The soldier turned and faced Artyom for a second. And he recognized his face. It was Ulman. Or at least some sort of past Ulman during the war. He looked different from what he looked like now. He wasn't smiling or saying anything to keep the mood light. But it was Ulman nonetheless.

Before Artyom saw another flash and returned to reality, he saw a calendar. That day's date was: 1-21-2013. Five months before the world ended.

The world turned back to reality and the shadows from the past were gone for now. The hospital had a dead feeling to it now. More so than the usual buildings in the dead city.

Artyom left the ruined building behind him and travelled to the botanical gardens where his journey to destroy the Dark Ones started.

When he finally got there he found the answers he was meant to find. A lone Dark One was standing in the ruin where it's nest used to be.

"You have come to destroy us.", the being entered Artyom's mind and showed him images. The first one was Artyom talking to Hunter in VDnKH, when his journey started.

"We wanted peace.", Artyom saw the dead city brought back to pre-war glory. A world where mankind and Dark Ones stood together to bring a new era of peace. True peace where people weren't plotting to ruin it.

"You brought us death.", the Dark One showed Artyom the missiles in flight. And then the hellfire that followed them. Almost nothing survived the strike.

"There is still hope. You must find him.", Artyom saw Hunter wearing his battle armor standing in the middle of a thousand suns.

"You must save him before they break him. Before he becomes the monster you fear.", there was Hunter standing there. But as he came closer, he changed. His eyes had a fire in them that wouldn't stop burning until there was nothing left to burn.

The Dark One left Artyom's mind. It was dead from using the last of it's strength to tell Artyom how to save them all. It's only regret was that it couldn't tell Artyom everything. Only enough to get him looking for the last light.

Artyom looked through the gardens and found a helmet. It was Hunter's. The camera on the side of it had a red light on it. It was still recording. He hooked it to his vest and started back to D-6. He hoped he wouldn't be too late.


	6. Chapter 6 (BoS)

Tyson watched Artyom as he left D-6 early that morning. Strange that the Ranger had to ask in order to leave.

The Initiate walked through the clean halls until he found what he was looking for: the armory.

Inside there was a bald man with a nasty looking scar over his eye. He was talking to a woman. Tyson couldn't tell what they were talking about, but from their body language it wasn't the morning weather.

Tyson walked closer and heard the woman finish her sentence. "...about Artyom.".

The bald man turned and saw Tyson. "Your supposed to be in your bunk. It's still lights out.".

Tyson could tell that was a blatant lie. If it was still lights out then what were they doing?

He decided to play it safe and asked about the weapons. "So what do you guys use as your issue.", he saw the bald man shrug and walk behind the armory counter.

"We use these little things.", he pulled an AK-74M out from behind the counter.

The weapon was old and dirty looking. It had cloth wrapped around the handguard and had a flashlight taped to the side.

"Really though, what do you guys use to defend yourselves?", Tyson couldn't take that ragged rifle seriously.

The bald man tossed the AK to Tyson. "Here, try it out on the range.", he pointed to a makeshift firing line.

Tyson walked over to it and found the cleanest magazine he could find, which wasn't very clean.

"Fire at those targets. And remember to not break my gun. That thing's been saving my life for twenty years.".

Tyson loaded the magazine into the rifle and aimed at the closet target. The rifle felt heavy in his hands. He took a deep breath and fired a four round burst.

The recoil knocked him off balance and he almost fell over the firing line.

"Better leave the guns to us. Your too inexperienced with a proper weapon.", the bald man was mocking Tyson.

"Yeah, sure.", Tyson was pissed off but didn't show it. No need to give the bald guy another reason to laugh.

Tyson left the armory and went back to his room. The light was still off. Inside he found two clean (actually clean) magazines with shiny bullets in them.

Beside the magazines Tyson saw a note. It read: _**Tyson, this is to get you used to how we trade here. Use it to buy food, drinks, and whatever else you may need from any vendor in these tunnels. Also, report to me at 0750 hours for your first assignment. -Colonel Miller.**_

Tyson checked his watch. It was 0690 hours in the morning. He threw on his ACU and IBA/OTV vest. The uniform was getting slightly dirty from the Moscow underground.

The BoS initiate walked through D-6 until he found Colonel Miller's office in the command center.

He knocked at the glass door and was let in by the Colonel. His uniform was still disheveled and dirty like the other day.

"Tyson. Sit.", Colonel Miller waved a chair in front of his long table. His face was cold and calculating.

"First, I want to know why you were breaking curfew.", Colonel Miller found a train route map and was studying it.

Tyson looked the Colonel in the eyes before saying anything. "I wasn't. And besides, if I was breaking the 'curfew' then your man Artyom completely destroyed it.".

Colonel Miller frowned but went back to neutral fast. "What do you mean. Explain yourself.".

Tyson told Miller about how he saw Artyom walking through the halls and how he convinced Ulman to let him go to the surface for a few hours.

"He went where?! I'm going to have Ulman's ass for this. And Artyom better have a good explanation for this. Tyson I want you to find Ulman. Your both going to the surface to track Artyom down. If he's still alive, I want him here! Now go before I lose my temper!", Colonel Miller's face was getting red.

Tyson left the office and grabbed his M16 before telling Ulman about their mission. "That's the last time I let a friend go out for fresh air.", Ulman was being half sarcastic.

They opened the massive door and walked up the escalators to the ruined city. Tyson pulled his US. Army gas mask over his face and gave a thumbs-up to Ulman. Ulman did the same with his rugged Russian gas mask and together they traveled through the streets.

They found Artyom's trail in a ruined hospital building in downtown in an hour. "He's been here. You could tell from the dead mutants.", there was a trio of dead giant rats in the hallway. Each had a bullet hole in it's head.

"Only a Ranger can shoot that good. No offense.", Ulman was examining the dead rats.

"None taken.", Tyson was watching out for anything that could kill them.

Tyson was looking in the one of the ER's when he saw a shadow on the wall. He turned around and saw nothing.

"Come on out.", the Initiate talked to the air. He saw another group of shadows moving closer. Before he could say anything else though, he saw a black flash and lost his sight.

When his eyes opened again he saw Artyom sitting alone on top a pile of rubble. Behind him was a field of fire and ashes. Beside him was a sign that read: **National Botanical Gardens.**

He saw another black flash and when he came to, Ulman was standing over him shaking his shoulder.

"You okay? Tyson, are you okay?", Ulman was shining a small flashlight around Tyson's eyes.

Tyson pushed the flashlight away and stood up. The hospital was giving him a bad vibe, he knew they had to get out. He also had an idea where Artyom might be.

"Ulman. I know where Artyom could be. I don't know how but I think he's at the botanical gardens.", he saw Ulman's sarcastic smile fall.

"The botanical gardens? I hope that your wrong. There was something there so evil, so dangerous that we had to destroy them with a missile strike.", a missile strike? That explained what the satellite hub in Denver saw.

"What was there?", Tyson was curious.

"The Dark Ones. Nobody knew what they were. Just that they were hell-bent on killing us all. Artyom was the one who warned us of their threat to our existence. And he was the one to kill them all.", Ulman was smiling at that.

Tyson needed to know more. His mind was racing. A being hell-bent on killing humanity? Sounds dangerous and very interesting.

The Initiate and the Ranger sprinted between buildings in downtown and found a ruined road leading to the botanical garden.

Tyson saw a sign that read: **Botanical Gardens: 1/2 Mile.**

"Ulman, looks like we're almost there.", Tyson was sweating under his gas mask. Either from fear, nervousness, or maybe a combination to the two.

Ulman looked at Tyson and nodded. He then gave him the universal hand signal for silence. This was the Dark Ones' nest. It may have been destroyed but you never know if any one of them survived.

They walked through the gardens with their weapons at the ready. Anything could be here. And whatever was here, the duo hoped that they would be ready for it.

After fifteen minutes of searching Tyson found Artyom. The young Ranger was knocked unconscious near the ruins of a fountain.

When Tyson got near him he felt a fear crawl over him. He felt something was there, watching him.

He looked at a wall and saw a sleek black tall being sitting against it. It had dull grey eyes and wasn't moving.

Tyson looked at the being sitting there and noticed that it was bleeding, or something from it's chest. He moved closer with his gun raised at it's head.

"What are you?", Tyson was looking at the being's face up close now. It wasn't moving to breath or anything else.

Tyson decided to test it by putting his M16 to it's head. When it didn't respond to the obvious threat of being shot in the head, Tyson decided it was dead.

"Ulman! I found him. I found Artyom.", Tyson called out knowing Ulman would be there in a minute.

Ulman came out of his searching area inside an old tourist building and ran to Tyson. The older Ranger examined Artyom's gas mask and saw that it was in good condition.

"It's still intact. Not too many scratches on the visor. Air filter still has an hour in it... No obvious wounds. Alright Tyson, do something useful and wake him up. We're an hour from the nearest metro entrance and we don't have enough filters for a direct trip to D-6.".

Ulman turned around and scanned for anything that might find them to be a delicious snack.

As Tyson was moving to wake Artyom up he saw his journal hanging half-way off of his vest. Tyson snagged it and put it inside his vest's plate pocket in front of the SAPI plate.

"Artyom wake up. C'mon Artyom. Get up! Artyom! Artyom!", Tyson started shaking the Ranger until he stirred.

"Where... Where am I?", his face was squinting under the sunlight.

"Your in the botanical gardens. Your lucky Ulman and I found you, you only had about an hour left in air filters. We're going back to the metro tunnels.".

Artyom searched the front of his vest and his eyes went wide. "Where is it?! It was right here.", Artyom was fully awake now.

Tyson played dumb. "Where's what?".

Artyom looked Tyson over for a minute. "Nothing. It's nothing. Let's just go. I came here to finish what I started.", Artyom pointed at the dead being.

Tyson heard a slight hesitation in Artyom's voice. Whatever he was doing in the gardens it wasn't to kill that creature.

"Alright. Let's go.".

As the three walked away from the gardens Tyson saw a shadow standing above an old administration office. As they got farther away the shadow was gone.

The nearest metro tunnel was less than a mile away. With less than an hour of air in their filters, the trio made haste and got underground just as their filters were almost out.


	7. Chapter 7 (Spartan)

Artyom was gasping for air as the massive door closed behind them. His trip to the surface almost cost him his life.

He pulled his gas mask off of his face and breathed in as much oxygen his body would allow before breathing out again.

The trip to the surface was worth it to the Ranger. He found an answer to his question. And another question to ask: are there other Dark Ones still alive?

If one was able to live long enough to speak to Artyom, then others had to be out there somewhere. There had to be.

Beside him Tyson and Ulman were were exchanging glances and talking to the Hanza guards.

"Here's my passport.", Ulman handed over his paperwork.

Tyson stood there not knowing what to do. Artyom walked to him and asked him if Miller issued him a passport yet.

"No. He didn't even mention it.".

Artyom handed his papers to the Hanza and was getting ready to explain Tyson's situation to them.

"Alright, you two may pass. We need to have a word with this one.", the guards pushed Artyom and Ulman into the station and looked Tyson over.

Artyom waited by the gates for Tyson. No doubt the guards were harassing the poor kid for military grade bullets.

"Thanks. And remember to enjoy your stay in the Ring.".

The Ring station was nice and clean compared to most of the metro. One thing Artyom always hated was that people here never suffered, and they always had their wants and needs taken care of. They even had vast amounts of supplies, but refuse to share freely with the rest of the metro. They only gave stuff out for military grade bullets, and never accepted bargains.

Tyson walked in through the gate and saw Artyom waiting for him.

"So why did you go to the gardens?".

Artyom knew what he had to say. "I needed to see if any of them were still alive. I needed to finish my mission.".

Tyson looked at Artyom for a minute. "You better tell that to Colonel Miller. He was pissed when I told him you went for the surface.".

Artyom wrote a mental note to keep an eye on this one. He had somehow figured out Artyom went to the surface before everyone else. And he told Colonel Miller about it.

Ulman walked away from a vendor with a small basket of shrimp. "C'mon guys, we need to eat. Then we can die by Colonel Miller's hands later.".

They all found a place to sit by the rail tracks and dug into the fresh food. Artyom thought it tasted funny. Probably because he never had shrimp before. It was only caught near stations with flooded tunnels. And like everything else in the Ring, it was expensive.

"Alright are we done? Good. Let's move on to D-6. There's an entrance in Polis.".

Ulman wasn't as soft-hearted as he was earlier. He was serious now... Was that even possible for him?

Artyom walked behind Ulman and Tyson. The trip was going to be a long one. They were a good five stations away from Polis. One of them belonging to the Nazis.

As they passed through two stations with ease Artyom started to feel tired again. His vision was going in and out, and his legs were wobbling under him.

Ulman noticed Artyom's symptoms first. "Alright guys, let's take a break at this station while we're here. No need to kill ourselves on the way back.".

They found a large tent to rent near the station's exit. It had enough room for two or three people.

When Artyom walked in he noticed a faint smell. It was like rotting meat. Chicken maybe? After a few minutes he learned to ignore it and he passed out on his blanket.

In his dreams Artyom saw his museum of death again. Each and every scene was just as haunting as they always were. Each scene a mistake he made.

Some of them he was proud of like the Nazi officer he shot. Nobody like that deserved to live. Artyom was certain of that.

There were some scenes that scarred him. Scenes where an innocent died while he watched. One of them was the missile commander's son. He was just a little kid and the bio-weapon in D-6 consumed him.

Artyom probably could have saved him, but he didn't. When he saw the kid in his dreams the bio-weapon was behind him. And just like ever other time Artyom sees the kid in his dreams, he tries to warn him, to save him.

And just like every other time Artyom had this dream, the kid just sits there and dies.

Artyom continued through his museum until he found the Dark Ones. He watched the missiles rain down again, wiping out humanities last hope for redemption. Condemning his people to war and death.

"There is no hope.", the Dark One was beside Artyom.

He turned and was getting ready to slash the being with his knife but it was already dead.

"You do not understand.", Artyom turned to the source of the voice but there was only another dead body.

"You bring death.", Artyom turned and saw Hunter walking towards him with a knife.

"Why did you destroy us?", Hunter was getting closer. Murder was in his eyes.

"You do not know. You Yet you understand. You listen but you can't see.".

Hunter was now holding the knife against Artyom's throat. The older man's eyes were grey and staring at nothing.

"You destroyed us. You killed hope. You must repent through death! Justice must be seen!".

Hunter drove the knife down against Artyom's neck. The blade cut through easily and destroyed Artyom's throat.

Artyom woke up from his nightmare. He instinctively reached for his throat only to feel his neck still intact.

"it was just a dream. It was all just a dream.".

Artyom looked around the tent and saw Ulman and Tyson still asleep. He checked his watch and saw that it was early in the morning.

The Ranger reached for a spot on the front of his vest and panicked for a minute that his journal was gone. Then he remembered he had lost it at the botanical gardens the previous day.

He also remembered that he had Hunter's helmet camera. It was still recording, damn gadget. Artyom couldn't figure out how to turn it off. Maybe it recording still would help. Maybe.

Artyom jumped when Ulman stirred and awoke. The older Ranger was not as happy or sarcastic looking. Something else was there. It was either fear, or sadness. Maybe both. Artyom thought.

"Artyom, when did you wake up... actually it doesn't matter. We just need to get back to D-6 and report to Miller. If we leave in the hour we should get back in time for evening mess.".

Artyom woke Tyson up and they all left the station without breakfast. Tyson complained loudly about it for a while.

"Did we really have to skip a morning meal?".

Artyom slapped Tyson on the back and gave him the hand signal for silence.

The group found a turn in the tunnel and ended up being blocked by a bandit camp.

"Alright, Artyom take point. I'll throw a flare to distract them. Tyson I want you to be long-range support. Stay behind us, but keep us in your sights. If you see someone we don't, shoot them.", Ulman was whispering carefully.

Artyom moved up towards the massive wooden barricade blocking the tunnel. He noticed something off about it. The construction was too good to be the average bandit group. Too clean.

The barricade had a door built into it. Standard doorknob. Easy to force open quietly enough.

Artyom pulled his trench knife out of it's sheath and jammed it in between the door and the frame. He forced it down and heard a 'click' meaning the door was now ready to open.

He put his knife back and readied his AK-74M, and opened the door.

The bandits were still asleep. Most of them were at least. There were a few walking and talking near drum fires and cooking pots.

"Ulman, four by the drum fire, two by the cooking pot. All of them are wide awake, but unaware we opened their door. What's your take?", Artyom was whispering quietly.

"Move in and get ready to make a crossfire.", Ulman was formulating a plan.

Artyom moved silently through the open door and found a hiding spot behind a group of empty barrels and drums.

Ulman came in behind him and hid behind a ruined sofa near a crashed train car.

Tyson sat behind the doorway and had his sights on the bandits by the fire.

Artyom took the safety off of his AK and was taking aim at the closest bandit. Something felt off, but he didn't know what.

He looked to where Ulman was hiding. His AK was just barley visible behind the couch but it was good to see his partner there in case things went wrong.

"Look out!", Tyson yelled.

Artyom turned his head and dived to the ground as a lead pipe came crashing down where his head was a second ago.

The bandit holding it was a big guy wearing a torn military jacket and jeans.

"If I was you I would drop my gun right about now.", he was a cocky bastard.

Artyom aimed at the bandit and heard over a dozen 'clicks' of safeties on rifles being removed.

Knowing he was defeated, Artyom dropped his rifle. A skinny bandit walked in front of him and kicked him in the shin. Another grabbed Artom's hands and tied them behind his back.

"We're taking you all for a walk. You will stay quiet if you know what's good for you. I want to take you places alive. It doesn't matter if your bleeding to death from a slit throat, or a few bullets to the gut. As long as we get places.".

Artyom felt a hand pull him up and push him towards the tracks. They were walking toward Nazi straight towards a Nazi station if the signs were to be trusted.

"That's a Nazi line. They'll kill us all!", Ulman was trying to reason with the bandits.

The big one hit Ulman in the side with his pipe, knocking the wind out of the Ranger.

"I said to be quiet if you know what's good for you. Next time, you die.".

Ulman just nodded and stopped struggling. Artyom thought Rangers couldn't be broken. Hell, he thought they couldn't be beat in combat.

Today he was proven wrong. He and his party was beaten, and captured. Being taken to who knows where.

Artyom thought of struggling, try and delay them and maybe get rescued. Then he remembered that they were outside of any legal territory. This was bandit country and they could do whatever they want as long as they don't go near civilized stations.

Artyom did the only thing he could and went with it. No point in struggling now and dying for it. He mentally prepared himself for a slow and harsh journey, and kept walking with his captors at his back.


	8. Chapter 8 (BoS)

Tyson felt the rope cutting into his wrists. It hurt like hell. He couldn't believe these bandits were able to trap and capture them so easily.

They had been walking through dark, abandoned tunnels. Tyson could tell that much from the fact that there were virtually no signs of human life outside of their captors.

Ulman and Artyom weren't resisting. They were just taking this in like it was normal to be beaten, captured, and hauled away.

"Well not me you fucks. You won't break me.", Tyson was whispering under his breath so that nobody could hear him.

The bandits holding Artyom and Ulman stopped and pushed the two Rangers to their knees. Tyson felt the bandit holding him stop, and braced himself for the inevitable push.

"Alright, stay still or we'll kill you. I need to talk with someone.", the biggest bandit gestured towards the other bandits to watch Tyson and the others.

Tyson watched as the big guy opened a metal door into a maintenance tunnel and closed it behind him.

Artyom was looking around with that thinking look he gets. And Ulman was trying to free himself from his bonds.

One of the bandits walked to Ulman and slammed the stock of his AK into his back.

Ulman grunted in pain but didn't yell out.

"Try that again and i'll feed you a bullet.".

The bandit walked back to his buddies who Tyson saw were messing with his M16.

"You fuckers better leave my baby alone.", Tyson said quietly.

One of the bandits walked to Tyson and punched him in the face.

"Shut up, or die!", the bandit pulled a revolver out of his jacket.

Tyson looked the bandit in the eyes before saying what he had to say. He had a fire burning in his eyes, and the bandit hesitated having never seen such courage before.

"I said... Leave my fucking gun alone! Do I need to speak in Russian?! Do I?! Leave my weapon alone! And shut the fuck up with that 'i'm going to shoot you' shit. If your going to shoot me then do it! I dare you! Go ahead asshat, shoot me! I bet you don't have the guts.", Tyson let out most of his pent-up anger in that moment.

The bandit stepped away from Tyson and another walked up with a short barreled AK. His eyes had murder in them.

"Alright, time to die asshole.", the bandit pulled back his Ak's charging handle and took aim at Tyson.

Tyson looked up and rammed the bandit with his head. The criminal went down from the impact to his face.

"I warned you fucker. If your going to shoot, then just do it.", Tyson curb-stomped the bandit's head, and did it again, and again, until half of the bandit's face was mush on the Initiate's boot.

Four of them had to pull Tyson off of their friend. He was clearly dead with half of his face more or less gone.

"That was a big mistake.", one of the other bandits was walking toward Tyson with a pistol.

Tyson closed his eyes and waited for a bullet to finish him off. It never came.

"Whoa, calm down there. Our boss may want to keep this one. He'll make a good price at the black line.", Tyson opened his eyes to see the boss back.

Black Line? What was that? Some sort of pirate hideaway or outpost? And if so: why wasn't it wiped out by now?

"Alright boys! Let's get moving! I don't want our 'guests' to get too settled, not yet.", the bandits forced the trio up and started marching them down the line once more.

The walk lasted many hours. Tyson was able to tell that much from how the bandits were slacking their steps.

He stopped struggling after the first hour. The rope just kept cutting into his wrist, each struggle sending a new pain up his arm.

"Alright, we're here. Leave them in the usual spot, remember to make sure their out cold before we leave. We should find our payment in the 'holy' place in a few days.".

Tyson was wide awake now fueled with adrenaline. He was not going to be knocked out by these damn bandits.

He looked around the 'usual spot' they laid them in. It was outside of a station with a black cross insignia on the barricade walls.

Where had he seen that insignia before? That's when it hit him. Tyson remembered learning about a nation that spread terror throughout most of the world. What was it called... Poland? No, they were one of the terror's victims.

Germany. That was it! Germany many years ago had a black cross insignia for it's military.

Why did this station have that same icon painted on their wall? And why did the bandits bring them here?

Before Tyson could ponder anything more one of the bandits struck Tyson in the back of the head twice with the butt of an AK-74M.

Tyson's world went black and the last thing he saw before finally slipping out of consciousness was one of the 'Dark Ones' that he and Ulman saw dead in the gardens.

He heard a monotone whisper in his head, from a thought that was not his own.

"You must see truth.", Tyson's mind buzzed trying to figure out where the other voice was coming from.

"You must save them.", why did his head hurt so damn much?

"Only you can start the events.", why won't it stop?!

Tyson's vision went black, and the pain stopped. His mind felt numb as he lost consciousness. The bandits sounded farther and farther away.

Eventually he heard nothing but his thoughts, and other thoughts that weren't his.

"I can still save them!", the voice belonged to Artyom.

Tyson's eyes slowly opened to see a dark hallway. Against the walls were scenes of people dying. It was hard to focus on them, they were in the wall but at the same time outside of it.

One scene showed a man collapsing onto himself in the middle of a dark tunnel. Tyson heard a name whispered to him. "Bourbon".

Another scene had an old man and a kid get shot down by a man wearing all black with a white and red German cross painted on his arms.

The next showed the same man in black getting ripped to shreds by rifle fire. His screams echoed through the hall.

The next scene was probably the most horrifying. It depicted a child no older than ten falling off of a train car into an abyss.

Only it wasn't a pit. It was some sort of giant organism that swallowed the child and crunched him under thousands of pounds.

Eventually Tyson found Artyom standing still facing something. He couldn't see what it was. He only saw Artyom trying to speak.

He kept on repeating himself like a broken holotape. "I can still save them! I can still save them! I can still save them! I can still...".

Eventually he said something different. A deep sorrow came from Artyom.

"I didn't know. I'm sorry. Please forgive me one day.", he was crying.

Tyson ran to Artyom to try and help him. "Artyom.", the Ranger didn't respond.

"Artyom! It's me. I'm going to get you out of here.", Tyson started to drag Artyom out of the dark.

That's when he finally spoke.

"Do you see it? Do you see the last light?", Artyom asked the question with hope in his eyes.

Before Tyson could say anything back his vision went black.

When he awoke he noticed that he was tied down to an operating table.  
"Good. your awake. My friends told me that you will make an excellent candidate. I hope they weren't lying.".

The small voice came from behind. Tyson couldn't turn his head to see him.

The room was bright white and had the black German cross painted on a door in front of him. What was this?

"Don't worry my dear lab rat. Everything will be okay for you. You won't feel a thing.".

The voice lied. Tyson spent hours in a deep pain that he never felt before. A pain that became impossibly worse until he lost consciousness.


	9. Chapter 9 (Spartan)

Artyom knew something was wrong when the bandits brought them to a Nazi station. He knew of their evils, having witnessed them first hand.

The station didn't have any civilians that Artyom could see. There was only Nazi soldiers. They all wore black combat uniforms with makeshift body armor over their jackets.

One of them was walking towards him. His hat showed he was an officer of sorts. Maybe even the leader of this group. Artyom would genuinely enjoy killing him. Scum like this didn't deserve to live.

"Ah, you must be the ones my dear friends found. Don't worry we'll take good care of you.", the officer signaled for two grunts to grab Artyom, and Ulman.

Once the officer got face to face with Artyom the man's face showed surprise and anger for a second.

"Bring this one to my office. I need to discuss something with him in private.", the officer made it clear that he wasn't asking.

The soldiers dragged Artyom to a medium sized room where the conductor's office used to be. On the wall there was a map of all the lines and stations. Some had black scribbled on them, others red, and finally where Polis was, the scribble was blue.

The map had a few stations scratched off. Stations like Dry, VDnKH, and a few others that were wiped off the map by disaster or invasion.

The desk was a fairly clean and shiny wooden desk that had all sorts of papers and other things like pistols and knives on it. One thing caught Artyom's eye: a postcard of New York.

Only two people really collected postcards. One was Artyom and the other was Hunter. The old man had said before going on his mission to the surface that they were important, that the history they depicted was worth a lifetime.

As Artyom thought about the strange Ranger, the door opened. The officer walked in. His face a mask of anger and hatred.

"I thought I would never see you again. To be honest I thought you would be dead on your way to Polis. Doesn't matter now, i'll finish what the metro couldn't.", he was at his desk looking at his weapons.

Artyom looked the man in his cold hazel eyes. "Why are you doing this?".

"You remember that officer you killed? The one who shot those degenerates for breaking the law in a Reich station? He was my father. I swore I would find the bastard responsible and pay him back. An eye for an eye, so to speak.".

The man in front of Artyom wore a mask of pure hatred. The Ranger could tell that today might be his last day. He thought that his karma was finally catching up to him for what he had done to the Dark Ones.

"Let me tell you something. You think that my people are wrong. That we're evil for doing what we do. I get that. But you don't know what it was like before. We do all this because we have to in order to survive as a species. There isn't enough room in the metro for all of us. Sacrifices have to be made so that the whole can survive. But some people like you don't get this. People like you go out to ruin what's left.".

The officer described how Artyom felt since the missile strikes. He had ruined humanities last hope for redemption, for real survival when he killed the Dark Ones. He felt grief for them, and yet he was still scared of them.

"Your wrong about most of that. Sacrifices are one thing, killing bandits and criminals who wrong everyone else is one thing. What you and your people do is evil. I saw it for myself on my journey to Polis. Your father deserved to die, and i'll enjoy killing you too.".

The Nazi's face went red. "What's wrong? Don't like the cold, hard truth staring you in the face? Scared of reality catching up to you? Don't be. I'll just be putting you out of your misery.", Artyom was playing mind games to buy time.

"I'll enjoy breaking you.", the officer grabbed a knife off of his desk and sliced Artyom in the chest twice. Both cuts left blood dripping off the blade.

The officer pushed a button on the wall. "Take this trash to his cell. I'm done talking to him.".

Two young Nazis barged through the door and grabbed Artyom. They dragged him by his arms to a dark room with no one else in it. It smelled of blood and death.

"This will be you new home until we decide what to do with you. Enjoy your stay.", they closed the door.

Artyom felt like shit. The cuts from that knife were deep and the blood was all over him. He started to think to himself. It's nothing, the cut's aren't that deep. It's all a power game, no need to let them win.

The Ranger was looking around the cell for anything that might be useful. That's when he saw a stick of rebar exposed to the environment. It was just low enough to put his hands against it.

"Ok Artyom, no big deal. Just going to saw through this rope, and maybe my hands too. You can do this.", he was talking to himself.

He put his bonds through the rebar. Artyom felt the cold, sharp metal rod against the back of his hands. "Up, down... Up... Down.", he started to saw through the rope holding his hands behind his back.

"Fuck!", the rebar was cutting his hands too. The pain was much worse than the cuts in his chest. Almost there... Almost.

'Snap.' The rope finally cut loose. Artyom looked at his hands, he saw that the rebar would leave some scars but the cut's weren't too deep.

"Alright, now to figure out a way out of here.".

An hour passed as Artyom was thinking of a way to escape. A guard came by his cell every ten minutes. They hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary. Not yet.

Artyom came up with a plan. It was very shitty, and very dumb but it was all he had.

The next guard came up to the door. Artyom was standing loosely next to the rebar pole jutting out of the wall.

"Hey! Hey! I need water!", Artyom was yelling to get the guard's attention.

From the way the guard was walking closer to the door, it seemed to be working.

The young Nazi opened the door and made sure to slam it shut behind him. It closed with an ear ringing 'clang!'.

"What is it? Well?", he looked at Artyom for a second and saw a weak Ranger begging for some hydration. And the thought that these were the ones who had secured the legendary D-6 and were the peacekeepers of the entire metro, just pathetic.

"I need help.", Artyom staggered backwards, careful not to get stuck by the rebar.

The guard ran to Artyom and looked him over, and then he saw the rope bonds on the floor behind him. Something was very wrong here, and he knew what it was.

"What the-", Artyom grabbed the man and threw him onto the rebar. The force of the man being thrown pushed the metal rod all the way through his chest, narrowly missing ribs and organs.

"Ahhhh! Oh god. Please, get me off of this thing! Please. I can't die like this. I won't report this to Lieutenant, I swear.", he was barely choking the words out as blood was pouring out of his mouth.

"Don't worry, you won't die from the bleeding.", Artyom grabbed the knife hanging off of the Nazi's belt and slit his throat, he was right: he wasn't going to tell anyone what had just happened.

Artyom searched the now dead soldier for anything else that might be useful. He was able to rip a strange, magazine fed pistol from it's holster sewn to the Nazi's jacket.

The Ranger inspected the magazine and noticed that it was holding about twelve .44 magnum rounds. That was enough to kill about twelve men if used with perfect precision.

Unfortunately for Artyom, he was never the best of shots with pistols. He never knew why, only that the bullets seemed to go wherever they pleased.

There was a loud audible scream that resonated through the metal door. It sounded like Tyson. He was being tortured, or maybe something worse.

Artyom ran to the door, threw it open and started down the corridor back towards the station hoping that he wasn't too late to save his brothers in arms.


End file.
